Aircraft wrecks

MikeD

MikeD

Administrator
Staff member
USAF F-4C Phantom II 63-7661, of the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. Located 43 miles southwest of Gila Bend, AZ. Crashed 25 November 1970 due to loss of control during during air combat training. Complete wreck site in the middle of nowhere.

F6D6A767-43F4-4309-BBB9-5A3D0EF4D5FE.jpeg
664E349D-B0E0-406A-BEB5-60A06B061B0B.jpeg
485D181D-7CA0-4C97-8E56-177FFFF666CB.jpeg
5707B64F-E48A-41F3-8430-2B11D1C44603.jpeg
 
Last edited:
These guys were able to successfully bailout and were rescued with minor injuries. Hasn’t been anyone out here for likely a few decades.
 
USAF A-7D Corsair II, 71-0355, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. Crashed 15 miles northwest of Ajo, AZ on 13 October 1977. Was on base leg of the dive bombing range on Range 2 inside R-2301E when the jet’s single engine failed. Too low for a restart attempt, the upgrade pilot turned 20 degrees to the west, aiming the plane into the desert, and bailed out of the jet. The jet impacted inside the crater range, 5 miles west of State Route 85 north of Ajo, AZ. The wreckage is complete and is on the crater floor and splayed up a hillside to the west. The pilot suffered minor injuries and was rescued. However this pilot was killed less than one year later in a New Mexico ANG A-7D Corsair II during a high speed, low level ingress to a target range, when his jet impacted terrain during a low level turn and insidious descent rate into rising terrain.

56C98E67-B6D3-4E7B-814F-CAB0D9E4C0B8.jpeg
E76A6484-0E62-4812-B72E-8EA80815A7EB.jpeg
 
USN Grumman F-14A Tomcat 161289, Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2), Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2), USS Kitty Hawk and NAS Miramar. Crashed 35 miles east of MCAS Yuma, AZ inside R-2301W during air-air dogfighting. During high G maneuvering, crew lost control and entered a spin that could not be recovered from. Pilot and RIO bailed out and survived. Wreckage remains on site.

B2B33605-77B4-43A7-A0A1-625EA695E57F.jpeg
51BD7CD9-C7C1-4421-9B01-A2EB58ED4DCE.jpeg
F8966D80-0927-4AA7-AE4A-527EEB5F385A.jpeg
E8ADA246-AE74-4C90-86E0-FF81AA19B83B.jpeg
058F115B-55CD-434F-8E5A-DF79DD77B1D9.jpeg
 
MikeD said:
USN Grumman F-14A Tomcat 161289, Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2), Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2), USS Kitty Hawk and NAS Miramar. Crashed 35 miles east of MCAS Yuma, AZ inside R-2301W during air-air dogfighting. During high G maneuvering, crew lost control and entered a spin that could not be recovered from. Pilot and RIO bailed out and survived. Wreckage remains on site.
Click to expand...

*I only joke about this because the crew was ok.


So how did this plane outta Miramar get into a spin over the desert and NOT end up in the ocean?
 
MikeD said:
USN Grumman F-14A Tomcat 161289, Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2), Carrier Air Wing 2 (CVW-2), USS Kitty Hawk and NAS Miramar. Crashed 35 miles east of MCAS Yuma, AZ inside R-2301W during air-air dogfighting. During high G maneuvering, crew lost control and entered a spin that could not be recovered from. Pilot and RIO bailed out and survived. Wreckage remains on site.
Click to expand...

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I started this post before you deleted one of your photos. I assume you deleted the canopy photo out of respect for the pilot, who might have been identified by the canopy.

I don't believe the pilot is identified. This was a CAG plane and I did some quick Internet research which prompted a conversation with my father. As it turns out, my father flew with this CAG in his Willie Victor days.

This CAG (EC-121, C-130, S-2, S-3) was a rare bird for his time, not coming from a fighter or attack community.
 
Last edited:
Pilot Fighter said:
A picture is worth a thousand words.

I started this post before you deleted one of your photos. I assume you deleted the canopy photo out of respect for the pilot, who might have been identified by the canopy.

I don't believe the pilot is identified. This was a CAG plane and I did some quick Internet research which prompted a conversation with my father. As it turns out, my father flew with this CAG in his Willie Victor days.

This CAG (EC-121, C-130, S-2, S-3) was a rare bird for his time, not coming from a fighter or attack community.
Click to expand...

Indeed, the crew and the aircraft aren’t the same. Oddly enough, the name on the RIO portion of the canopy, is a non-wing officer from VF-2 back then.

Even more odd, the jets number is NE115, as opposed to NE100, like you’d think for a CAG bird.

you’ll notice only one vertical stab is present. Somehow, the other vertical stab is now sitting in the ready room of VT-21 at Kingsville NAS.
 
That's interesting. Looks like it fell flat as a pancake at a relatively slow speed. Wonder if they experienced the yaw on the nose, compressor stall problem that earlier F14s were known for.
 
Pilot Fighter said:
That sounds normal to me.
Click to expand...

I think I was told by some Tomcat guys that Kell was a squadron logistics guy or something, from VF-2?

curiously, if CAG wasn’t a fighter guy, and was an S-3 guy, wouldn’t the “CAG bird” be one of those, instead of a Tomcat?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top